Christmas - The Birthday of Jesus

An Advent Challenge: Love Your Enemies!

by Gary Zimak.

Dear Lord,
So far today I’ve done all right.
I haven’t gossiped, cursed, or lost my temper.
I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or overindulgent.
I am really glad about these things.
But, in a few minutes Lord,
I am going to get out of bed,
and from then on,
I’m probably going to need a lot more help.
Thank You,
In Jesus’ Name. Amen. (Author unknown)

Most of us will chuckle when reading this prayer, but isn’t the message really
true? One of the most difficult aspects of being a Christian is dealing with
people. Especially challenging is Jesus’ command to love one another. Even more
difficult is the Lord’s command not just to love those who love us back, but to
love those who annoy us and to love those who (gulp!) hate us…our enemies!

If I had my choice, here’s how I would like to practice my faith. I’d take a
prayer book, rosary, and my Bible and sit in church or an adoration chapel for
several hours each day. I would be able to speak with the Lord, feel His
presence and experience total peace. Although it’s not impossible, it is very
difficult to commit sin while I’m in church. By using this approach, chances are
good that I wouldn’t be sinning that much. Therefore, achieving my salvation
would be a “piece of cake”. Brilliant strategy, right? The only problem is that
this is not even close to what the Lord wants me to do.

Like it or not, most of our lives are spent interacting with people. We must
deal with family, friends, coworkers, fellow students, store clerks, uncaring
receptionists at doctor’s offices, demanding supervisors, customers who scream
at us because they are not happy and individuals who absolutely don’t like us
and want to make us suffer as much as possible. Do you get the picture? Some of
these dealings are just not going to be pleasant. Fortunately for us, the Lord
gives us some guidelines to follow:

I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another. (John 13:34)

That’s fine, I can handle that. How about if somebody treats me badly? What
should I do then?

Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how
often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to
you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)

This is getting tough, but I think I’m still good. If someone apologizes, I have
to forgive them. I guess the only exception to this “love one another” thing is
when someone hates me and makes no effort to be nice.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute
you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise
on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For
if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual
about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly
Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Now, my friends, you see what being a Christian is all about…and it ain’t easy!
In order to call ourselves followers of Jesus, we must love as He loved. How did
He love? By forgiving those who tortured, mocked and crucified Him. To make
matters worse, the reason He was on the cross in the first place was to redeem
all of mankind, which included the very people who were putting Him to death.
And despite the fact that they laughed at Him, beat Him, and hung Him on a cross
to die, He forgave them! In the same way, Jesus expects us to do the same to
those who mistreat us. While it sounds impossible, it isn’t. The only catch is
that we must ask for help. We can’t be expected to accomplish this on our own.
If we pray and receive the Sacraments frequently, we’ll receive the graces
necessary to pull this off.

The season of Advent is all about preparing for the coming of Christ. We should
be using the time to turn away from our sinful behavior so that we’re better
prepared to meet Him. For the remainder of this Advent season, why not pledge to
pray for and be kind to that individual who hates you? Ask the Lord to bless
that person and offer thanks for having them in your life. Why? Because without
that person, you wouldn’t be able to fulfill Jesus’ instructions to “love your
enemy”. Loving that enemy will help you to get to Heaven one day.

Even if you don’t have any real enemies, I’m sure you can think of a really
annoying and difficult person for whom to pray during Advent. That would be a
great use of the next few weeks. Personally, I’m glad to be able to share this
post with my Internet followers and speak about it on the radio. For, when
asking everyone to pray for the most difficult and annoying person they know, I
know I’m going to get some prayers directed my way!

Do something good for someone you like least today. (St. Anthony of Padua)

[Editor's Note:
Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries, a lay apostolate
created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith. In
addition to writing for CatholicLane. Mr. Zimak hosts a daily program on
BlogTalkRadio. He is a member of Catholics United For The Faith and the Knights
of Columbus and resides in New Jersey.]